WOBURN, Mass., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Covaris® LE220 high performance ultra-sonicator has received the prestigious SLAS New Product Award at the LabAutomation 2011 conference in Palm Springs CA. With over 4,400 attendees, LabAuto is the premier laboratory automation conference and exhibition, bringing science, technology, and industry together.

Breakthrough products introduced at LabAutomation are evaluated by a team of industry experts. Each year, the best and most promising new products are recognized with the SLAS New Product Award. Covaris is very pleased to announce that for 2011, the LE220 is a recipient of the New Product Award designation.

The LE220 was chosen for the New Product Award from more than 400 LabAutomation 2011 exhibitors, based on its technical originality, anticipated impact on the field of laboratory automation, supporting data that reflects universal scientific methodology, and market demand. According to Jim Laugharn, Founder and CEO, "The NPA award is significant recognition and is an affirmation that the patented, controlled AFA physicochemical process is indeed a unique technology platform. This award also reflects the increasing importance of sample preparation as a fundamental component of advanced life science systems, such as in Next Generation DNA Sequencing."

The LE220 Ultra-sonicator

The LE220 is specifically designed for high-throughput, parallel-processing operations utilizing the Covaris Adaptive Focused Acoustic (AFA) technology. The LE220 is ideal for next-gen nucleic acid sequencing, compound dissolution, tissue/cell lysis applications, and other high-throughput applications. With DNA shearing performance characteristics matching industry-standard Covaris S-series and E-series instruments, the LE220 reproducibly shears DNA to desired lengths, in a multi-sample parallel-processing mode. The LE220 is designed to improve sample processing throughput 8 fold over single sample methods in a 96 tube format (32 fold in a 384 well format).

Founded in 1996, SLAS is a worldwide organization providing leadership and educational benefits on the utilization of automation technologies, robotics, and artificial intelligence in order to improve the quality, efficiency, and relevance of laboratory analysis within and across multiple industries. Laboratory Automation includes podium presentations, poster sessions, and exhibiting companies from all over the world showcasing the latest in laboratory automation technologies.